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Islamist stabs policeman to death in Paris suburb

A man who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) group late Monday night stabbed a French policeman to death before being killed, The Guardian reports.

The man’s wife was also found dead when police stormed the house, and a three-year-old boy was rescued alive. The attack took place in the Paris suburb of Magnanville and was apparently carried out by a neighbor of the family, the newspaper reported.

Witnesses told investigators the attacker may have shouted “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest in Arabic) as he stabbed the policeman repeatedly outside his home before holding the woman and the boy inside. The child was described in reports as the couple’s son.

The police officer who died was named in the French media as 42-year-old Jean-Baptiste Salvaing, described as an assistant chief in the nearby district of Les Mureaux.

Meanwhile, a news agency linked to ISIS later reported that one of the group's fighters was behind the stabbing, AFP reported.

The SITE Intelligence Group, based just outside Washington, cited the Amaq News Agency as saying, "Islamic State fighter kills deputy chief of the police station in the city of Les Mureaux and his wife with blade weapons near #Paris."

Officers found the woman’s body when they stormed the building and the attacker was killed during the assault, said interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said, according to The Guardian.

The boy was “in shock but unharmed” and receiving medical attention, a prosecutor added.

French president Francois Hollande said Monday night a meeting would be held at the presidential palace on Tuesday morning and declared that “all light will be shed” on the case.

“Light will be shed on the circumstances of this abominable drama whose investigation, under the authority of justice, will determine the exact nature,” Hollande said in a statement.

The shooting follows the killing spree at an Orlando nightclub, in which 50 people were killed by a Muslim gunman.

That attack, too, was claimed by ISIS, though it is not yet known whether it had any operational links to the attacker.